Didn't get married before 15? The whole family to jail (5 photos)

Parents are afraid that their daughter will be branded as an unnecessary woman, so they try to marry off their daughter as early and as profitably as possible.





How do you like the traditional red wedding in China? I still like the white one better

But in fact, these girls are very lucky. For China, this is a big breakthrough in the perception of marriageable age. Once upon a time, girls were legally registered as old maids after 15 years! And if you left your daughter an old maid, then you could be put in prison, or sentenced to a fine or punishment.

Mandatory viewing for everyone

In ancient China (around 500 BC), an official event called the "mid-spring meeting" was held every year. All unmarried young people had to attend. There they could socialize and find their mate.



It's funny, today an unclaimed woman in China is usually well educated

According to the rites of the Zhou Dynasty, this event was held in different places across the country in the second month of spring each year. And it was MANDATORY to attend, to the point that you would be caught and sent to court for truancy.

"Anyone who fails to attend the meeting without a reason will be punished," the law said. Young Chinese know this, so they turn a blind eye even to their parents posting their personal information with a photo on a Beijing marriage alley.





Modern marriage alley, aunties bring their sons and read ads for daughters

At least here you don't have to go and embarrass yourself.

Didn't get married when you were young? To Court

However, these rules were still lenient. Three hundred years later, a new, stricter law was passed.

In the southern kingdom of Yue, parents of "old maids" over 17 or bachelors over 20 could be accused of committing a crime against the state.

For example, during the Han Dynasty (second century BC), unmarried women under 30 were taxed five times more than married women (!!!).

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Jin Dynasty, the government dispensed with the viewing parties. Instead, they sent the spouse directly as humanitarian aid from the state.



In those years, they did not think about the statistics of the sex ratio and where to find a spouse if there were not enough men

In 273, Emperor Wu decreed that "if parents do not find a husband for their daughter after 17 years, the local government itself will appoint a man for her."

The mechanics of how they chose a suitable man were not disclosed in detail.

But finding available husbands was not easy. Therefore, in later times (400 AD), it was decided to change the rule: "if a woman does not marry after 15 years, her entire family will be sent to prison."



In Chinese dramas, everyone is boringly young, but in a sense this is realism, all the brides are underage by our standards

So modern "I prefer not to start a relationship" Chinese millennials are just lucky. Now they are simply fed up with their mother and grandmother's whining, sometimes throwing them pre-arranged blind dates "with such a nice guy/girl" from a neighboring village.

Anything is better than going to jail for it.